Eric Limer

As technology marches ever forwards, there are companies who will want to make sure advertising can keep up. That's why Sony filed a patent for next-gen ads that let you skip through them, but only if you yell a brand name at your TV.

The patent includes a whole bunch of annoying, but relatively benign stuff as well, like ads with interactive ball-throwing games, ball-hitting games, fighting games, racing games. Most of this stuff, of course, is for ads on video that's streaming through a PS3 (or PS4) somehow, and requires peripherals like the PS Move, EyeToy, or whathaveyou to function, but some of it could be applied to more standard streaming devices. The games could be amusing or annoying, depending on your point of view, but the "say our name to skip" functionality just seems downright nefarious. Why? Because I'd totally do it, and my soul would slowly die inside. I can't be the only one.

It just raises the question: what is your pride worth in seconds of commercial free video content? Fifteen seconds? Twenty? Can you see a future where you leap up out of your chair to scream "VIAGRA!" at the drop of a hat just to get back to My Little Pony? I can, and it ain't pretty, but that doesn't mean I won't do it. [USPTO via Engadget]